The present technology relates to a socket for an electrical plug and socket connection, comprising a housing, a plug-in opening for mounting a plug, and a contact support insert positioned in the housing. The contact support insert includes contacts extending into the plug-in opening, which are designed as flat contacts with an elastically bent contact surface. The socket is particularly intended as an electrical connection socket between a vehicle and trailer.
This type of socket is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,752, which also serves for electrical connection of a trailer pulled by a vehicle. That patent discloses a unitary socket and contact insert, wherein the contact insert contains flat contacts with elastically bent contact surfaces that are inserted in corresponding openings of the contact support insert. To seal the socket, after the contacts are inserted, the plug-in openings are sealed with a liquid sealant. This method unnecessarily complicates production. Additionally, such sealants are typically not weather resistant. The use of such sealants is therefore undesirable in vehicle applications.
Another type of trailer socket is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,188. In that patent, the contacts are inserted into the socket housing and made fast by a core that presses the contacts against the socket housing, which is inserted into the middle of a circular ring formed by the contacts. That type of design suffers from a drawback in that the area surrounding the inserted core is not sealed against moisture penetration. During operation, electrical leakage or short-circuits can occur. Production is also comparatively expensive, since many individual parts must be separately installed in succession.